Eye Black

We joked about it earlier (as we should have), but having a bench full of pinch hitting bats is looking like it might actually prove helpful today.

Nevermind just read he left after landing awkwardly on a pitch. Left the game due to left abdominal discomfort according to Sophia.

Losing Woodruff for any length of time during this part of the season would be pretty discouraging.

The Saladino grand slam is right up there with the Schoop grand slam HR against Bumgarner as far as perfect timing for a struggling hitter.

FanGraphs annually does a Trade Value Series. It is a 6-part series that starts with an honorable mention article followed by releasing the top 50 players in increments of ten. Here is a link to the 2019 Trade Value Series. Each of the six is linked at the top of that final edition. I took a closer look at their rankings which were previously done by Dave Cameron, and now fall among Kiley McDaniel’s duties. I figured it would be fun to compare them to the Baseball Trade Values site. Below is a list of the FanGraphs top 50, with the value assigned by Baseball Trade Values (BTV) in the next column. I collected the BTV numbers beginning Friday, so if any of these players have been updated this weekend they may have incorrect value numbers. The FanGraphs honorable mentions included Josh Hader (77.1 on BTV) and Keston Hiura (75.5 on BTV). [pre]FG # BTV Name 1 178.0 Ronald Acuna Jr. 2 121.2 Fernando Tatis Jr. 3 82.4 Mike Trout 4 151.5 Cody Bellinger 5 151.3 Alex Bregman 6 111.4 Juan Soto 7 116.3 Christian Yelich 8 111 Ozzie Albies 9 102.4 Matt Chapman 10 182.0 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 11 87.2 Walker Buehler 12 91.7 Gleyber Torres 13 96.8 Francisco Lindor 14 63.4 Rafael Devers 15 118.6 Aaron Judge 16 72.5 Shohei Ohtani 17 83.0 Ketel Marte 18 88.7 Yoan Moncada 19 47.0 Xander Bogaerts 20 111.0 Blake Snell 21 51.1 Shane Bieber 22 127.2 German Marquez 23 111.5 Wander Franco 24 66.1 Jacob deGrom 25 57.1 Kris Bryant 26 83.8 Jose Berrios 27 69.8 Trea Turner 28 51.4 Joey Gallo 29 60.0 Paul DeJong 30 58.9 Chris Paddack 31 78.6 Aaron Nola 32 29.1 Peter Alonso 33 59.8 Jose Ramirez 34 50.7 Javier Baez 35 49.7 Rhys Hoskins 36 35.5 Freddie Freeman 37 75.8 Nick Senzel 38 42.2 Jorge Polanco 39 49.0 Jeff McNeil 40 47.0 Max Kepler 41 35.5 Brandon Woodruff 42 56.5 Mike Soroka 43 82.3 Eugenio Suarez 44 36.0 Max Scherzer 45 80.8 Carlos Correa 46 72.0 Gary Sanchez 47 77.5 Corey Seager 48 40.6 Adalberto Mondesi 49 45.6 Matt Olson 50 62.3 Luis Castillo[/pre]

I guess on the bright side they should have a lot of excellent pinch hitters available today. It is the 11th time in his career that Manny Piña has started a game in the 5th spot. He has a .903 OPS in those games, so maybe they’re on to something.

Still no lineup released two hours before game time which is a little out of the ordinary. Wonder if there is a yet to be announced move delaying things? Would expect the lineup to be posted any moment now. Edit: Here it is, a Sunday special indeed...

According to Brooks Baseball Freddy Peralta touched 98-mph for the first time in his MLB career (98.41 mph) versus the Braves and hit 97.82 mph last night. His max velocities in outings as a starter earlier this year fluctuated between 94 to 96 mph.

Brandon Woodruff: Batter (Diamondbacks) vs Pitching Stats

Another player that would fit the utility mold and could cover games at shortstop is the Rangers Logan Forsythe. His .363 OBP would look good in the current Brewers lineup. The 32-year old Forsythe would be a true rental.

If the Brewers wanted to add a utility player via trade that could cover shortstop with regularity (bumping Saladino off the roster) that would also offer offensive production then I think the Marlins Miguel Rojas is the best option likely to be available. Rojas is under contract through next season (2020). Ultimately I don’t think they will add a SS from outside the organization at this deadline. Edit: Just saw Rojas injured his shoulder on Saturday, so depending on the severity he may not be a viable option.

Nick Anderson was actually drafted by the Brewers in the 32nd round back in 2012 (didn’t sign despite being a college senior). That is the same year the Brewers took Brent Suter in the 31st round (some impressive late round drafting that year). It looks like Anderson has had a small number of blow-up outings that have inflated his ERA. Since late May he has a sub-3.00 ERA. He has allowed 0 runs in 31 of his 41 appearances this year. This past Thursday he struck out 5 of the 7 batters he faced versus the Padres. Anderson’s fastball averages 96-mph, and the slider is his go to pitch. He just turned 29 years old this month, but is actually under team control through 2024. He could be a sneaky good option for a team in need of stability in the middle innings.

This one was good for morale.

There will probably be a day where walking someone to get to Hiura with the bases loaded will be unfathomable.

This is one of my favorites (link)...

So in all seriousness how big of a lead would you need to be okay with not sending Hader back out there?

I can’t wait for his HOF induction speech. It’s going to be must see TV. Hahahahaha, ohhhh ya. I forgot about his issue. And with speaking. Didn’t necessarily mean to knock him, but he is so brutally honest that you never know exactly what he’s going to say. You just know it will typically be unfiltered honesty.

I can’t wait for his HOF induction speech. It’s going to be must see TV.

When Hader is blowing guys away it’s so fun to watch. Hopefully he can get through a relatively stress free 9th inning now.

You’re averaging 50+ posts per day, so I can understand how additional free time to check other box scores could be hard to come by.

Like I said, Chafin sucks against lefties!

Chafin has been really good against lefty hitters this year, but not nearly as menacing against righties.

Thames currently has the second highest OPS (.884) and OPS+ (125) on the team behind only Yelich. He has been better than okay, in my opinion.

Saladino didn’t have much more than a puncher’s chance there.

I have heard some speculation that the Mets may be willing to trade Edwin Diaz. Seems like it would be a strange time to likely sell low on him, but hey it is the Mets.